Germaine Greer: Post Women's Liberation

In 2002, at the final event of the Melbourne Writers Festival, Germaine Greer called upon Australian women to wear veils in protest against any war in Iraq. She also requested that women be more attentive of the medical procedures they undertake. In earlier years, Greer believed that marching naked would be effective, but now she believes that if every woman in Australia was suddenly veiled then it would leave a much more effective, dramatic and disturbing effect.

Professor Greer also made points about the unnecessary invasive medical procedures that women are subjected to. She had distinct distaste for pap smearing to test for cervical cancer, breast cancer testing “by squashing breasts to the size of a British rail ham sandwich” and needless hysterectomies. She states that these tests are not only unnecessary but ineffective, and that the tests are common practice not for women’s health but to make women terrified of their bodies.

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